Class 387115, 387123, 387124 Thameslink Trains Bedford 2015

 

Class 387115 Thameslink Trains EMU Bedford 2015       
Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

Class 387123 Thameslink Trains EMU & Class 222023 DMU

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Class 387124 Thameslink Trains EMU Bedford 2015       
Photo: Charles Moorhen

The Thameslink Trains Class 387 electric multiple unit, such as in the photos above, which forms part of the Electrostar family, was built by Bombardier and entered service between Bedford and Brighton in December 2014, with all units in place by July 2015.

 

Since the introduction of Thameslink's Class 700 EMU on the Bedford/Brighton service, the Class 387s have been transferred to Great Northern operating out of Kings Cross.

Other operators of the Class 387 EMU are; Gatwick Express, Great Western Railway, c2c and Heathrow Express. 

Night Photo Class 221138 Cross Country DEMU 'The Big Hoot 2015' Banbury

 

Cross Country Trains DEMU Class 221138 Banbury
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Colourful night photo of Cross Country Trains Voyager DEMU Class 221138 displaying 'The Big Hoot 2015' event branding seen on a scheduled service at Banbury station about to head towards Leamington Spa on 4th May 2016.

 

From the 20th July to the 27th September, 89 giant owl art structures could be found in the streets across the city of Birmingham; each owl individually decorated by a different artist.

This event known as 'The Big Hoot 2015', sponsored by various local businesses and organisations, culminated with a sale-by-auction of the attractive owls with all money raised going to the Birmingham's Children's Hospital.

From June to September in 2022, a similar event - The Big Hoot 2022 -  is to be held in Ipswich, Suffolk, to raise money for the St. Elizabeth Hospice.

In total, 40 designed and illustrated 'Big Hoot' owls will be placed around the historic town.

Photo Class 90034 EWS UK Electric Locomotive at Rugby Station 1990s

 

EWS Class 90034 - Rugby       Photo: Charles Moorhen

Class 90034 electric locomotive, photographed in English Welsh & Scottish Railways (EWS) livery, stands in Rugby station in the 1990s around the time of its  modernisation.

 

Built by British Rail Engineering Ltd. (BREL) at Crewe between 1987 and 1990, the electric Class 90 locomotives, a derivative of the Class 87, and initially intended to be classified Class 87/2, were produced essentially for mixed traffic duties on sections of the UK railway network.  

Due to their unreliability in the early years of service, they were unfortunately nicknamed, 'Skodas', a derogative name for the cheap and, some claim, unreliable Skoda Czech-manufactured car.

In response to the aging of various electric locos on the UK railway network, dating from the 1960s, such as Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85, BREL tendered proposals to build 25 examples to replace.

In total 50 units were produced with all of the fleet in still service or stored at the present time.

At the time of writing the current Class 90 operators are - DB Cargo UK, Freightliner, and Locomotive Services.

Class 47100 'Merlin' Silver Roof UK Diesel Loco Eastleigh 1989

 

Class 47100 'Merlin' loco at Eastleigh                  Photo: Charles Moorhen

Photographed in May 1989, on 35mm colour film, diesel locomotive Class 47100 in BR blue livery, stands in Eastleigh station, Hampshire.

 

Class 47100 - original number D1687 - was built at the Brush Falcon Works in Loughborough and entered service on 16th November 1963.

On the 20th September 1989 the loco was given the short-lived unofficial name, 'Merlin', before being unnamed two years later on the 17th July 1991.

After 28 years service on the UK railway network, it was withdrawn in 1991.  January 1994 saw it cut-up at CF Booths scrapyard in Rotherham, Yorkshire.

This should have been the end of the story of diesel locomotive Class 47100, but a strange thing happened.  Although the engine and bodywork was scrapped, by some twist of fate the cab survived.

It was purchased by a Mr. Thorley who was a collector of locomotive cabs which he stored in his garden. At a later date the Merlin's loco cab was acquired by Mr. Richard Benyon of the South Wales Loco Cab Preservation Group.

In 2009 the cab of Class 47100 was on the move once again, this time by low-loader to its final destination - the 'Ribble Steam Railway' in Preston.

Stored in the Railway's workshop the cab is now undergoing renovation with the intention of creating an interactive display for visitors.

 

Photo: Martin Brown

 

Photo: R. MacVeigh (flickr)

512 Class 47s were built, of which 30 have passed into preservation and can be found (at time of blog-page publication) at the following locations, though this may be subject to change for various reasons.

D1524  47004 - Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway.

D1693  47105 - Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

D1705  47117 'Sparrowhawk' - Great Central Railway.

D1842  47192 - Crewe Heritage Centre.

D1855  47205/47395 - Northampton & Lamport Railway.

D1994  47292 - Great Central Railway Nottingham.

D1787  47306 'The Sapper' - Bodmin & Wenford Railway.

D1886  47367 - Mid Norfolk Railway.

D1895  47376 'Freightliner 1995' - Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

D1500  47401 'North Eastern' - Midland Railway Butterley.

D1501  47402 - East Lancashire Railway.

D1516  47417 - Midland Railway Butterley.

D1566  47449 - Llangollen Railway.

D1662  47484 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' - (Private Location).

D1107  47524 - Dean Forest Railway.

D1778  47183/47579/47793 'James Nightall G.C. - Mid Hants Railway.

D1762  47167/47580/47732 'County of Essex - Carnforth.

D1933  47233/47596 'Aldeburgh Festival' - Mid Norfolk Railway.

D1606  47029/47635 'Jimmy Milne' - Epping Ongar Railway.

D1970  47269/47643 - Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway.

D1948  47505/47712 'Lady Diana Spencer' - Crewe Heritage Centre.

D1619  47038/47564/47761 - Midland Railway Butterley.

D1643  47765/47059/47631 - East Lancashire Railway.

D1946  47503/47771 - Eastleigh Works.

D1755  47541/47773 - (Location Not Known).

D1909  47232/47785/47820 - Wensleydale Railway.

D1656  47072/47609/47834/47798 'Prince William' - York Railway Museum.

D1654  47070/47620/47799/47835 'Prince Henry' - Eden Valley Railway.

D1966  47266/47629/47828 - Carnforth.

D1661  47077/47613/47840 'North Star' - West Somerset Railway.

More Class 47 and 57 images on 'Along These Tracks'.

Class 47701

Class 47822

Class 47790 'Galway Princess'

Class 57307 'Lady Penelope'

Class 57316 'Fab 1'

Class 57305 'John Tracy'

Class 57308 'Tin Tin'

British Rail Class 101 L202 W51225 DMU Train Banbury 1989

 

Class101 W51225 DMU Banbury    Photo: Charles Moorhen

In British Rail blue and white livery, Western Region L202 Class 101 W51225 Driving Motor Brake DMU, photographed on a sunny April day in 1989 about to depart Banbury station, Oxfordshire, England, for Oxford, forming the front unit of a 2-car formation.

 

W51225 was built in 1958 by Metropolitan-Cammell at Washwood Heath, Birmingham, England.

 

 

Commonly known as British Rail's First Generation DMUs, the Class 101 fleet contained a total of 527 units in service, many of which were in use until the final 101 was withdrawn in Dec 2003.

W51225 was scrapped by Gwent Demolition, Margam, Wales, though 22 others managed to escape this fate and are preserved on Heritage Railways at various locations in Britain.

 

 

The Class 101 has one enduring and endearing claim to fame; it was the basis for Daisy the Diesel Railcar in The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W.Awdry, then subsequently appearing in the television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends where Daisy (YouTube video clip) appears as a single-car unit.

 

Daisy the Diesel Railcar

 

Photo Class 66515 UK Freightliner Loco Through Banbury Station 2014

 

Freightliner Class 66515 Loco Banbury        Photo: Charles Moorhen

Photo of Freightliner Class 66515 diesel loco at Banbury station, hauling a train of empty flatbed wagons, A Chiltern Railways Class 172 DMU can be seen to the left of the picture.

This image was actually taken from a video that I took at the time. An experiment that worked reasonably well.

 

In Freightliner livery since new, Class 66515 arrived in the UK at Newport docks on the 15th August 2000 on board the ship, MV Stellaprima.

 

On the 5th December 2015, the loco provided the power for the reverse part of the 'York & Durham Noel Explorer' Pathfinder Tour, hauling an 11-coach train from Newcastle to Taunton.

The above photo took a lot of fiddling about with my basic photo editing software, but in the end I thought that the process was worth the effort.  

Admittedly, not the best image of a Freightliner loco in the world, but I like the sense of motion.

I am not a great believer in too much 'tampering' with an image; usually merely correcting only Brightness and Contrast.  But with this image I was tempted to see what I could do with it.

Following the relative success of this, I decided to try it out on a couple of other video images that I thought may make worthwhile static images.  The results were not as good as I had hoped.

However, when I've more time I might have another crack at it. Fingers crossed. 

More Class 66 Locomotive Images on 'Along These Tracks' blog.

Class 66005 at Wellingborough

Class 66013 & 66502 at Rugby (Scroll down for '502' image)

Class 66044 at Northampton

Class 66086 at Didcot

Class 66086 and 66237 at Didcot

Class 66117 at Northampton

Class 66130 at Banbury

Class 66145 at Banbury

Class 66206 at Northampton

Class 66414 at Northampton

Class 66509 at Wellingborough

Class 66536 at Banbury

Class 66551 at Rugby

Class 66717 at Wellingborough

Class 66729 at Wellingborough 

Class 66765 at Wellingborough

Four Unidentified Class 66s Didcot.

Four Unidentified GBRF Class 66s Wellingborough

Photo Class 350257 London Midland Desiro EMU Train Wolverton 2013

 

Class 350257 EMU flashes through Wolverton      Photo: Charles Moorhen

A lucky photo of London Midland Trains Class 350257 Desiro EMU passing at speed through Wolverton station, UK.

 

It had been a busy afternoon at Wolverton, grabbing photos of trains on this particular day.  A variety of Class 390 Pendolino EMU's had belted through the station on the far track, too quick for me to even attempt a shot, a regular supply of London Midland Train Class 350 EMUs had kept my shutter finger busy and a small amount of freight had passed by.  

And it was due to a passing freight train that I nearly missed the above image.

I had just managed a grab-shot (the story of my life!) of a couple of Class 90 diesel locomotives double-heading through the station, when flicker of movement at the corner of my eye caused me to look to my left.

The last wagon of the freight train was about to pass under the bridge at what I refer to as the London end of the platform, when a profusion of green, black and white burst forth from under the road bridge.

Oh dear! Panic panic!  I wasn't ready.  My camera was still in its 'view images' setting. 

Fumbling, I switched the camera controls to the 'camera icon' and raised it to my eye so fast I thought I might blind myself in the process.  I had no time to check the camera settings. All I could hope for was that the settings that were in place to take the photo of the Class 90s would work for this shot. 

The shutter clicked, Class 350257 flashed past at speed heading for Crewe, and it was all over.   Did it work?  I was not very optimistic.

Gingerly, I lowered the camera and flicked the switch to 'view image'. It was then that I realised I had been holding my breath, probably since the moment I caught sight of the London Midland Trains EMU.  With a satisfied whoosh I breathed out,  fogging the screen on the camera's back in the process. 

When the 'mist' had cleared, and my impatient foot had stopped tapping, I dared to take a look. 

Well, there it was in all its glory. But, taking everything into consideration, I was quite surprised.  The image was not as bad as I feared it would be.

Looking at the picture again and again, I swore to myself that from that moment on I would learn to be more alert - more on the ball.  

And did I succeed? Well, not really.  Within minutes of making that solemn oath I managed to miss yet another passing train.  

Oh well! Keep working at it.

Photo Class 90029 DB Cargo UK Electric Locos Double Heading Wolverton 2013

 

 Class 90 Locomotives Double-Heading Through Wolverton    
Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

A black and white photo taken on the 9th July 2013 of two DB Cargo Class 90 electric locomotives seen double-heading a fast moving freight train through Wolverton station, Buckinghamshire, UK.

 

The leading locomotive is numbered Class 90029, while unfortunately the second loco went unidentified.

The train had recently passed through Northampton and was headed towards Bletchley.

Class 90029, bearing the Deutsche Bahn Cherry Red livery along with DB Schenker branding, was built by British Rail Engineering Ltd Crewe Works in April 1989 - one of 50 produced.

On 26/3/1998 the loco was named 'Frachtverbindungen' but later lost its name on 31/1/2003.

On the 8/4/2003 it was named once again, this time as 'The Institution of Civil Engineers'.

According to details listed in the 2014 Platform 5 Locomotives Pocket Book, Class 90029 had by this date lost its latest name.

 

Photos Rail Track Grinding Train Loram C21 DR 79241/247 'Roger South'

 

Cab of Loram C21 DR79247 Rail Grinder Train, Northampton Station Sidings    Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

 

 

Partially obscured by the profusion of weeds growing in the semi-derelict railway sidings at Northampton station, an area that over many decades bustled with a host of examples of railway rolling stock, I was surprised to discover Network Rail's rail grinding train - Loram C21 DR79247 'Roger South' cab.

 

When I came upon  this scene in the mid-2000s at Northampton station, my initial thought as I looked far across the tracks through the long lens of my camera, was that perhaps this railway track machine train was being temporarily stored prior to disposal.  But, I was totally wrong.

 

     Loram C21 Rail Grinding Machine Showin 'Roger South' Nameplate                     Photo: Charles Moorhen

During a lull in activities at the station when my surroundings became surprisingly quiet, I realised that somewhere along the length of the train an engine of some description was running.

Unable to pinpoint exactly where the noise was coming from, I decided to take a few photos just in case DR79241/247 'Roger South' took it into its head to move off.

Loram C21 Begins To Move Out Of Northampton Station Sidings - (Class 350 EMU in the far distance)    Photo: Charles Moorhen

Ever since I started taking photos of railway rolling stock I had never seen a train such as this - or incidentally since.  "Right place, right time" as the saying goes.

Network Rail grinding machines such as DR79241/247 are an important and integral part of passenger safety whilst running a busy railway network, such as addressing wear and tear on railway tracks known as Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF).

The technicalities regarding the treatment of RCF is way beyond the scope of this blog.  Therefore, I direct blog visitors to the Rail Engineer and Loram websites for detailed information.

 

          Rail Grinder Train 'Roger South' About To Join Main Line      
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Photo Class 442 'Wessex' NSE 'Plastic Pig' EMU Train Basingstoke 1990s

 

Class 442 EMU Basingstoke             Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Photo of unidentified Class 442 'Wessex' 5-Car electric multiple unit, in Network SouthEast livery, about to pass Basingstoke signal box before entering the station with a scheduled service from London Waterloo on an overcast day in the early 1990s.

Nicknamed the 'Plastic Pigs' by rail enthusiasts, due to the amount of plastic used in the construction, the Class 442 EMU was introduced by NetworkSouthEast on the line between London Waterloo and Weymouth in 1988.

Twenty four five-car units were manufactured by British Rail Engineering at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works.

In 1988 the Class 442 had the honour of entering railway history books for holding the world speed record for a third-rail 'Contact Shoe' (DC) train when, on the 11^th April that year, it reached a speed of 108 mph (174 km/h). Impressive for a train that was designed with a maximum speed of 100 mph.

Operated by South West Trains after privatisation, the units were replaced with Desiro UK Class 444 and Class 450 EMUs in February 2007.

Following a period of storage, the 442s once again saw service, this time on the Gatwick Express services from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

In 2016 the units were withdrawn from this route.

Class 442412 EMU on Gatwick Express Duties

                                                Photo: Peter (flickr)

 

Eventually the units were put into storage where they remain at present, although there has been talk that they may be used once again for mainline running. Time will tell on that one.

 

The eventual fate of the Class 442 EMU:

In January 2020, 'Global Railway Review' magazine reported that South Western Railway (SWR) had reintroduced four of its 10-car Class 442 trains, running on the London - Portsmouth and London - Poole routes.

However, in April 2021 'Modern Railways Magazine' reported that SWR's reintroduction plans for the Class 422 units had been abandoned.  The reason cited was "lack of demand".

An SWR Engineering spokesman stated that six of the 24 '442s' had already been sold, donated or scrapped by Angel Trains.  The spokesman went on to say that with no future prospective use for them, all remaining units will be sold for scrap.

442s Scrapped or Used For Spares:

No. 2401 stripped for spares at Eastleigh Works, for scrapping 7/2020.

No. 2405 coach number 62944, scrapped at Eastleigh 5/2020.

No. 2421 stripped for spares at Eastleigh Works, for scrapping 7/2020.

No. 2424 coach number 62960 scrapped at Eastleigh 5/2020.

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Night Photo Class 700003 Thameslink Desiro City EMU Train Bedford Station 2018

 

 

700003 EMU at Bedford Station     Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

Govia Thameslink Trains, Class 700003 electric multiple unit photo seen on the night of the 18^th April 2018 at Bedford station about to head south, was built by Siemens at Krefeld, Germany.

Introduced onto the UK railway network between 2016 and 2018, the Siemens DesiroCity Class 700 was manufactured in two train lengths; 8 and 12-car units. A total of 115 trainsets.

8-car units are numbered 700001 – 700060.

12-car units are numbered 700101 – 700155.

In order to update the rolling stock on the Govia Thameslink line, the Class 700 replaced classes 319, 377 and 387 EMUs which were placed elsewhere on the network.

In order for the trains to operate on 'third-rail' routes, for example those in Kent, Surrey and Hampshire the 700s were constructed to draw electric power from two sources – the overhead Pantograph system (AC) and the Contact Shoe 'third-rail' system (DC).

Thameslink Trains operate its fleet from Bedford, Luton, St.Albans City, Peterborough, Cambridge; then via central London to Sutton, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Rainham, Horsham and Brighton.

Additional services to East Grinstead and Littlehampton operate during peak times.

A train operator serving a total of 115 stations with 115 electric multiple units.

 

UK Desiro Trains List:

The UK 'family' of Desiro diesel or electric passenger trains also include classes – 185 DMU, 350/1, 350/2, 350/3, 350/4, 360/1, 360/2, 380/0, 380/1, 444, 450, 707, 717. 

 

 

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